U.S. time, No. 2, Glider Drexler returned to Houston and went home to Big Dream's house.

"Hakim, you only have one year left on the contract, take advantage of the fact that you still have some gas, buy out the contract and go to the supersounds, right?" He earnestly advised.

"Are dreams more important, or are money more important? Big Dream fell into deep thought.

The glider persuaded: "I know you have a conflict with Iron Fist, but he is a large number of people and will not care about what happened before.

Do you see how much of a conflict he had with the Assassins in the locker room when he first joined the Alliance? Is it not the same later to be the best friend? ”

Big Dream is a little awkward, Clyde, it's not this that I'm thinking about now, it's the question of who is more important, money or dreams.

"For the championship dream, don't chill." The glider finally said.

Big dream that he still has two years and $31 million on his contract, but he is still a little reluctant, thinking of giving up so many dollars, he hesitates:

"The current supersonic lineup is not good, even if the Iron Fist King comes back, I'm afraid he won't be able to beat the Spurs, right? I think it's enough to beat the Lakers. If I buy out the contract and end up losing the championship, I'm afraid I'm going to be laughed to death? ”

The glider shook his head and said, "Anyway, I advised you, it's up to you to choose." ”

……

New York, NBA headquarters, David Stern was very happy in the past two days, because of Zhou Quan's comeback, the league received some sponsor contracts in the past two days, and then China CCTV notified the league that it would buy the broadcast rights of the new season of SuperSonics.

He believes that there will be more good news in the future, and the NBA league has ushered in a turnaround.

……

On July 7, Zhou Ye took the college entrance examination, and after the exam, Zhou Quan's family went to the United States.

The summer vacation is not over yet, Zeng Yu temporarily stayed in China and returned to the United States at the end of August.

Jun Zhou has completed his four-year undergraduate program, obtained a degree certificate in computer science, and has passed the UCLA graduate application.

12, Los Angeles International Airport.

Li Lianjie and others pushed their luggage out of the passage, and suddenly found that a large number of reporters were blocked in front of them, and long guns and short guns were facing them.

"No, I just filmed a bombardment 4 that hit the streets, so many reporters are waiting for me?"

Lao Li was a little confused, he estimated that there are at least 100 reporters here, is there a Hollywood superstar behind it?

Looking back, there were some people following behind, but didn't see those familiar Hollywood superstars?

Long Wu also looked back at the back and said, "Even if it's a Hollywood superstar, no one has this row, right?" ”

When they got closer, they didn't see any interview behavior from these reporters, and the flash didn't turn on, but made way for a few of them.

They managed to squeeze out of the middle, only to find that they were blocked again because there were more people behind the reporters, all wearing uniform jerseys and sneakers.

Security personnel at more than a dozen airports are maintaining order, but it is useless, there are too many people, there are at least three hundred people here, and they do not listen to orders at all.

Lao Li and the others couldn't get by, so they had to stop where they were.

"I see."

Lao Li looked at the jerseys on these people, and suddenly shouted with a sudden realization.

"Know what?" The Dragon King asked.

"This is the No. 1 supersonic jersey, it's the jersey of the Iron Fist King, didn't he just announce his comeback, is it him who is going to come out?" Lao Li said excitedly.

"Iron Fist? No wonder! The Dragon King also suddenly realized.

Even though he is from Xiangcheng and has heard the name of the Iron Fist King for a long time, he has heard Chen Long mention it many times, but he has not had the opportunity to meet the Iron Fist King.

"Coming, coming......"

At this moment, I saw that these reporters suddenly became in a commotion.

Lao Li looked at it with his feet in the back, but he couldn't see it, he was a little shorter,

"Click, click, click......"

When Zhou Quan's family and six private security personnel walked out of the exit, the dense crowd of reporters had completely blocked the front, and the dense shutter sound sounded one after another, and the flashing lights came and went.

"Sure enough, it's him."

Lao Li jumped behind the reporter a few times, and finally saw Zhou Quan wearing sunglasses walking behind the security guards.

He and Zhou Quan have no communication and have never met, but for Zhou Quan's name, it is thunderous and too familiar.

"Iron Fist King, this comeback, is it back to supersonic?"

"Iron Fist, is it possible to stay in Los Angeles? All Angelenos want you to play here. ”

"Tekken ......"

When Zhou Quan approached, all kinds of questions from the reporters were immediately thrown out, and the flashing lights and shutter sounds became more dense.

"Yes, I chose to go back to hypersonics, my home is still there."

"I love the fans in Los Angeles and I hope you will continue to support me."

Under the protection of the security personnel, Zhou Quan walked forward while picking up a question that was easy to answer and answering.

It took a full ten minutes to break through the siege of more than 100 media reporters, and then Zhou Quan saw the fans wearing his jersey and Iron Fist series sneakers.

"You guys?"

He asked, a little confused.

"Iron Fist!"

More than 300 fans cheered instantly, and more than half of the fans were in tears.

A fan in his fifties excitedly shouted, "Iron Fist King, we are here to greet you in a group, from Seattle." ”

"Thank you so much, that's why I chose to come back to the NBA and back to the SuperSonics because of you. Zhou Quan nodded with emotion.

"Oh roar!"

The scene was jubilant.

"It's so popular!" Looking at Zhou Quan a few steps away, Lao Li muttered.

"Li Lianjie? Hello! ”

At this time, Zhou Quan noticed Lao Li, took a step over, and stretched out his hand across the two fans.

"Hello, hello!"

Lao Li was stunned and hurriedly stretched out his hand.

Zhou Quan then took some photos with the fans before leaving the airport.

"Husband, do you know Li Lianjie? I haven't heard you mention it. After getting in the car, Zeng Li asked.

Zhou Quan shook his head and said: "I don't know, when I was studying in Los Angeles, he opened a martial arts gym here, I went to his martial arts gym to study for a few days, there are quite a lot of people, where does he have an impression of me?" I met him in the Peninsula Hotel restaurant in Xiangcheng in '92, and I knew him, but he didn't know me. ”

Over there, after saying goodbye to Zhou Quan, the topic of Lao Li and Long Wu still did not leave Zhou Quan.

Long Wu said: "Ajie, Chen Long has a good relationship with him, he has told me many times that many of Hollywood's top A-list stars are friends of Iron Fist King, look at his row just now, he is even bigger than Chen Long." Now that you're in Hollywood, now that you've met him, I think it's time to strengthen your connection with him. ”

"I will, Fifth Brother." Li Lianjie said.

The relationship between the two was very good, when he fell out with Jiahe, his agent Cai Zimin was killed, and his brother-in-law was his agent, and he immediately suffered a car accident and died, and later Long Wu appeared and helped him settle those troubles.

……

Zhou Quan's family spent a night in Los Angeles and then flew to Seattle the next day.

I don't know how many fans rushed to the airport to greet him, at least tens of thousands, it was a small scene at the Los Angeles airport yesterday.

Out of the airport, all the way to his villa on the shore of Lake Washington, all the fans' cars, all the way, all the horns.

The Seattle police arranged a large number of police forces to escort him, and it took three or four hours for the family to arrive at the villa, and they did not dare to come out after closing the door.

"Dad, I'll contact you with an expert doctor who specializes in liver disease, and then arrange a weight loss coach and nutritionist, you get rid of the fatty liver first, and when your body is better, I will arrange a position for you in Exquisite Coffee, what do you think?" After resting for a while, Zhou Quan said.

"Okay, son, you can do it."

Zhou Jianguo's fatty liver has reached a moderate degree, and if it is not treated, it will be severe, and the liver function has been affected, so he has no choice but to nod.

"Jianguo, quit smoking and drinking, the doctor has long said that you should quit drinking and smoking." Lin Yufen said.

Zhou Jianguo immediately shouted: "Then what's the matter, you can't eat, drink, or smoke, all the fun of men is quit, how can I enjoy life?" ”

"Dad, quit drinking first, and then drink a little more when your body is well. As for cigarettes, let's smoke cigars, that thing is more stylish, smell it and get on it. Zhou Quan said busily.

"That's pretty much it."

Finally, there is still some hope, Zhou Jianguo said helplessly.

……

The next day, the front page of the American media was full of Zhou Quan's news.

"The Iron Fist arrives in Los Angeles and paralyzes the airport." New york times.

"The Iron Fist arrived in Seattle and paralyzed the city." The Seattle Times.

The Wall Street Journal published an opinion piece on the issue, saying: "After the announcement of the Iron Fist's return to the NBA, the NBA league has regained the favor of sponsors, which will stimulate the US economy affected by the financial turmoil in Southeast Asia and increase the US job market."

Since the announcement of the comeback of the Iron Fist, the listed companies related to it have generally risen, and the US stock market has risen by 7% in the past three days, and the total market value has skyrocketed by hundreds of billions of dollars. ”

……

After a night's rest, Zhou Quan went to the supersonic headquarters the next day.

After a pleasantry or two, Whithitt first introduced the head coach.

George Karl has a dynasty in his hands and can be described as a success, leaving the SuperSonics last season and now coaching the Bucks, from whom he has a contract with one of the best coaches in the league.

The current head coach of the SuperSonics is former NBA star and former Suns head coach, Paul Westphal, a very handsome white man.

The current coaching record is 428 wins and 216 games, with a win rate of 50.5%, and the ability can only be said to be average.

"This is the current lineup, Iron Fist, you take a look first."

“OK。”

Whithitter took out the lineup list and gave it to Zhou Quan, and he took it and looked at it.

Centre-forwards: Wenbeck, Gerani McCoy, Greg Foster

Forwards: Rodman, Rashad Lewis, Cory Maggetti, Otis Thorpe

Defenders: Zhou Quan, Brent Barry, Ruben Patterson, Shamond Williams, Flett Vinson

Whithitt said: "In the center position, McCoy and Foster don't have much quality, fringe people, and they haven't been given a contract yet. Wenbeck, alas! ”

Speaking of this, he couldn't help but sigh.

Zhou Quan hasn't watched much NBA games for two years, but Wenbeck knows it, he mainly plays the power forward position, and the low post offense is very strong, and when he saw Whithitt like this, he couldn't help asking: "Bob, is he injured?" ”

Shaking his head, Whithitt said angrily: "Last year's big shutdown, he overfeats and drank too much, and in a few months he weighed almost 500 pounds. ”

"What?"

Zhou Quan was stunned, more than 220 kilograms, O'Neill is only 140 kilograms now, is Wenbeck fat into a ball?

He said without hesitation: "It's too undisciplined, this kind of person can't want it." Our goal is the playoffs, and in the series, we have to face the big sharks, Karl Malone, Garnett, and the center is too weak to be good.

Bob, trade him and try to trade a good main center. If you can't find it, prepare two meat shields to deal with O'Neill. ”

Whithitt was stunned for a moment, and hurriedly said: "I can't trade, his contract has expired, and he is now a free man." He asked for a 5-year, 60 million contract, because he didn't lose weight in one season, and he drank heavily, and I was still thinking about it. If you don't want to work with him, I'll notify his agent and let him go, which can save tens of millions of dollars. ”

Speaking of this, he sighed: "Because of him, I made a major mistake in the construction of the roster, and now it is likely that it is impossible to make up for it, and now the free market, there is no quality center at all, and it is very difficult to trade." ”

Zhou Quan said: "I don't expect a star center, try to find a good blue-collar center." ”

"I try."

Whithitt then continued: "Striker, Schramf is gone, Rodman is 39 years old, he has been absent from training a lot in the two seasons you have been away, and there are some problems with his attitude. ”

"Dennis only has a contract left for this season, right? What is the status now? Zhou Quan asked.

"As long as you can play, you're in okay shape, you can still grab a dozen rebounds, but you have a lot of injuries, and you only played 25 of the 50 games last season." Whithitt said.

Zhou Quan nodded and said: "Dennis's problem is left to me to solve, you can play less in the regular season, and his use is in the playoffs." ”

Whithitt continued: "At the forward position, apart from Rodman, Rashad Lewis was our second-round pick last year and didn't play a lot.

Thorpe can also play two positions, he came for the championship, and after you came back, you came to the door the other day and got a low salary of $500,000.

Cory Maggeti was our No. 13 pick in the first round of the year, 198 cm, and a swingman at the front.

In terms of guards, Barry is the No. 15 pick in the first round in 95, the son of Barry Sr., his ability is not as good as his father, but he can use it, he averaged 11 points, 3.9 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 1.1 steals per game last season.

Ruben Patterson was the Lakers' No. 2 pick in the second round last year, and he was a swingman at the front, one spot higher than Lewis's pick. He, Lewis, Margety, and we can consider focusing on two.

Shamond Williams was the No. 5 pick in the second round last year, and your bench only played twice with the Hawks last season and didn't do much.

The other defender, Vinson, is a fringe man, a head-builder, you don't need to pay attention to him, if you have a good one, it will be cleaned up. ”

Zhou Quan thought for a while and said, "Bob, we just said the center position. The power forward position, at Rodman's age, can only play as a substitute now, and how the playoffs will be arranged will be discussed later.

The main power forward in the regular season, let this Rashad Lewis give it a try, if there is potential to cultivate, he will cultivate, and if he doesn't, he will find another one, what do you think? ”

"Iron Fist, Lewis is a young man who plays on the outside, but he has a poor defense on the outside, and he can defend a chair at most. His athleticism is average, his autonomous offensive ability is not strong, and his rebounding is also poor. Whithitt reminded.

Zhou Quan was stunned for a moment, and hurriedly changed his words: "Anyway, we don't have a small forward now, so let him try the No. 3 position first, and we will find a main power forward." ”

"OK, so that our two interior main players have to be re-founded."

"No. 2 position, let Little Barry let the main force first." Zhou Quan said.

Whithitt said: "There are still ten days left in the freeze period, I will talk about it first, and I will inform you when I have a goal." ”

“OK。” Zhou Quan nodded.

Whithitt added: "Iron Fist, now that you're back, our team has become attractive again, such as Thorpe, so I'm going to find one or two more veterans with oil to flesh out the bench." If they can be found, those two or three marginal people on this list can let them go. ”

Speaking of this, he said with some embarrassment: "Iron Fist, I didn't know you were coming back, so this lineup is too bad, several of them are marginal people with basic salaries, and the main lineup is not ready." ”

He then added: "I've had a lot of players in the free agency market contact me, here's their list, you can take a look at it, tell me what catches your eye. ”

“OK。”

Zhou Quan took the list and looked at it.

But the vast majority of them are unfamiliar marginal people, a few people with memories, and veterans who don't have much oil.

Whitcht separated the roster by position, and now the most needed is the inside, and he took a special look at the top center position.

There are a total of seven centers, six of which were drafted and did not get into the eye, what Ben Wallace, Brad Miller, Bruce Bowen, who had too little playing time and had no chance to meet on the court in the past.

"I don't have a opinion, you can do it yourself." Somewhat reluctantly, he handed the list back.

"Right now, our two fringe center forwards don't have much quality, I'll get a few of them to come over for a tryout, do you have time to take a look?" Whithitt said.

"You notify me." Zhou Quan nodded.

After talking about the affairs of the team, Whithitt began to introduce Zhou Quan to the current situation and situation of the league.

"The Bulls have dropped out of the championship race with Jordan's retirement last season. And Jordan's retirement disrupted the steps of the Bulls' rebuild, which was 12th in the East last season. ”

"Big Dream stayed in Mosaic for a big contract, and he is entering the late stages of his career, but Mosaic is not very competitive, and he was fifth in the West last season."

"On the Jazz side, Barkley retired, and the Postman also stayed with the Jazz for a big contract, and his current strength can still be maintained at the end of his peak, very durable, second in the West last season, and reached the Western Conference finals."

"In the new season, there are strong teams in the West: Spurs, Jazz, Lakers, and Trail Blazers. In the East, the Heat, Pacers, and Knicks are okay. ”

Zhou Quan thought for a while and said: "Jordan retired, these strong teams in the east are relatively weak, and the overall strength in the west is stronger.

The Spurs and Lakers should be our main opponents, the Spurs have David Robinson + Duncan, the Lakers have the big shark O'Neal, and our interior line? ”

Whithitt then introduced the new rules introduced by the league in the past two seasons.

The first is the reasonable collision zone introduced in the 97/98 season.

That is, within this area, the penalty is in favor of the attacking side, a reasonable charge is allowed, the defender must jump vertically to defend, and the hand is not allowed to have extra movements, otherwise it is a blocking foul.

The second is the five-second rule for the back.

That is, the back play time cannot exceed five seconds, and the pass or attack must be completed within this time, otherwise the ball will be exchanged for violations.

Whithitt said: "The reasonable collision zone has made O'Neal a real monster under the basket, and now this guy's tonnage is more than 140 kilograms, as long as he gets the ball under the basket, it is useless for a few people to go up, and he has to smash and collapse a few basket rebounds in a season." ”

Zhou Quan said thoughtfully: "Equip him with a top outside lineman, and the Lakers will be able to stand up." ”

"That Kobe Bryant was already good, the Lakers' second-highest scorer last season," Whithitt said.

He and Iverson, the rookie Maddy in '97, and Vince Carter in '98, all four of them are point guards, and Iverson's style of play can be regarded as a point guard, with characteristic playing styles and good popularity, and the league is praising them.

Vince Carter is good at dunking, and in just one rookie season, his popularity is not weaker than that of the other three, and after Jordan retired last year, the league can barely survive, and he has a part in it. ”

……

(End of chapter)